
Those of you who know me well, know that I read a lot of Seth Godin’s work. For some (good) reason, he resonates with me. sometimes, I just don’t get what he’s saying, but most of the time he gets me to either think differently or discover something that I have not found before.
And I like that.
So today I find this post from Seth: Understanding Substitutes and I am a bit puzzled. Of course, I had to find out more, right?
The post is a primer on pricing and what every business owner should know about it. It’s well worth the read, but that’s not what caught my attention.
In the post Seth says this:
Paradoxically, pricing itself also tells a story. If we’re picking a surgeon or a restaurant or yes, even a dozen eggs, sometimes we intentionally don’t buy the cheapest one. It has to do with the story we tell ourselves about money, certainly, but it’s also based on an awareness of how markets work. When we don’t want to make a mistake, we seek information, and expensive successful items in the market carry with them the information that other people like me have bought this more than once, that it’s probably worth it.
I had to read it a couple of times and let it soak in. And then something clicked for me. The successful higher ticket items always come with information. And that is what people really want.
So how does this help you?
Good question.
Let me ask you this, how do you price your goods and services?
Do you see yourself as a provider of a commodity, where price tends to be king or queen?
Or, are you dealing in luxury goods. Products and services that are excellent and deliver on their promised result?
Share your thoughts below, I’m guessing that you may have a new insight or two.
Seth does get us thinking doesn’t he? This is a great thought provoker you’re sharing here.
Did you happen to read his report on Placebo? It’s related and adds more to the pricing picture 🙂
One of the hardest things for the people I work with seems to be how to price their products and/or services. I think realizing that we need to inform our customers & clients of the things we know makes us special is key. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Kelly – and yes I did read his article. It’s well worth the read. For those of you who are interested the the article is here and his Placebo booklet is here
I agree Tracy. Valuing ourselves and our work is so difficult. We underestimate our value so much of the time. Thanks for commenting